Commander Cody: Seeds and Stems

LostAs the explosion of the '60s country and rock fusion thing moved more towards slick commercialized acts like the Eagles, but prior to the outlaw county movement really getting its teeth, a few acts were needed to keep dirty Americana alive and well in a rock context.

Ann Arbor, Michigan was a hotbed of hippies, social unrest and more drugs than can be recalled during this time. And that's why, in part, John Sinclair based his White Panther Party and the MC5 there after growing tired of the police harassment being levied upon them in Detroit. Ann Arbor, though, also had the Stooges for a bit, making the MC5 less of a threatening presence.

It's odd to think that in this environment Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen came into being. There wasn't anything too intimidating about the band and the ensemble certainly couldn't be considered a part of punk history. But the traditional songs that inspired Commander Cody (aka George Frayne IV) were enough of a catalyst to push him into playing local bars around town. With the blue collar cities of Detroit and Toledo just down the road, the songs about cars, drinking and getting stoned were probably pretty well received. And towards the end of the decade, the Commander and his troupe - along with Asleep at the Wheel, another more traditional Americana style band - picked up and moved to San Francisco. While Asleep at the Wheel is still playing today, the move for them didn't result in the same ends as for the Lost Planet Airmen, though.

After the move, Commander Cody was able to secure a record deal with Paramount. The band's first album in 1971, entitled Lost in the Ozone, really shouldn't have yielded any tremendous chart success. But in addition to the title track, the band's rendition of the classic "Hot Rod Lincoln" earned them a few moments in the charts. It wasn't the boon of a lifetime, but the momentary success afforded the ensemble an opportunity to head out on the road, ply their songs in front of enthusiastic audiences and be embraced by the flagging counter culture to a certain extent.

The adroitly figured combination of country, '50s rock and roll styles, some boogie woogie piano figures and lyrics modeled on working class concerns, made the band a widely celebrated band considering the musics scope. The band would go on to release a few more studio discs before disbanding towards the end of the '70s. Commander Cody would continue on under his own name for a time before calling it quits. But their first album is really what the band's legacy is based on.

On it's own, "What's the Matter Now?," probably should have earned the Commander and his crew a huge following in the country loving portion of the record buying public. The song, a mid paced, piano lament really isn't too imaginative, but the vocal harmonies struck coupled with the blues based progressions is more than enough to create a pretty classic track.

For the most part, the band's been lost to time. But 2009 marks the Commander reconstituting his group, recording and hopefully heading out on the road.